3. TPatT - Indigenous Texts in French
All Indigenous works that were first published in French before 2000 are included in this database.
Pages
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- Chansons du Nouvel An.
- The story takes place on December 17 (but the year is unknown) in a winter camp. The year would come to an end in four days (winter solstice) and everyone from close and far would gather and visit, to celebrate happiness, kinship, abundance, and the beginning of a new year. Jawano Geejik (Blue Sky or Southern Sky) had put on his best clothes but remained in the mitshuap despite all the celebrations goind on. At the end of the day he asked as per his usual for his drum, and his song brought everyone inside. He tells them about another New Year’s feast when he was 5 years old; the great grandmother of his father’s mother, Weengushk, was very old. She could hardly walk but sang all the time. She sang all the old songs, when Tche Manito had sent Gijigokwae onto Turtle Island. She also sang of a time when the Island would be full of people from many different nations who would celebrate the New Year together. Jawano Geejik recalls her saying she would be leaving in a few days to meet with those who had already gone. At that moment, the Giver (a prefiguration of Father Christmas) appeared wearing a mask and carrying a colorful bag with toys in it; this was the moment the children were waiting for. As people gave and received gifts, Weengushk sang of the first great New Year. Jawano Geejik sang, danced and mimed giving out toys, much to his audience’s amusement., This story straddles the fiction/non-fiction line. We use the term story.
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- Chiâlage de métisse
- Subtitled “intimate and political diary” the author writes to her brothers and sisters about their alcoholic mother and abusive father. At the age of 14 she berates him but begins to see in him a great sadness. She reflects on how her parents used to live, in the forest, before the children had to go to school and he had to get a job; living in a town aggravated their differences, she a “woman of the woods” and he a “white man.” She speaks of growing up “mixed,” going to school, but grateful for learning her mother’s language at home. [Reprinted in La vie en rose, n. 17, May 1984, pp. 30-32]
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- Cœur à cœur avec vous
- This second collection of poetry tells of childhood, Northern people and nature.
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- Elle a eu vingt ans. C’AFAQ qu’on a aimé ça.
- In the poem’s title, C’AFAQ is a play on the abbreviation AFAQ, which stands for Association des femmes autochtones du Québec (Native Women’s Association of Quebec). Playfully berating Murielle Millard, legendary music hall artist, who sang in 1962 “there are no more savages in Canada,” the author here celebrates the achievements of the Native Women’s Association, 20 years after its formation in 1974, and its members solidarity.
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- Eukuan nin matshimanitu Innu-iskueu / Je suis une maudite Sauvagesse
- Published in 1976, An Antane-Kapesh’s first book, in Innu and in French, aims to defend the culture of her people by opposing it to that of White peoples; the chapter on the implementation of schools and residential schools in particular is very compelling. The author describes “Les Blancs” (“the White People”) by listing all of their “gifts”: schools, alcohol, police, tribunals, reserves, journalists and filmmakers. She denounces the injustices, misrepresentations and social problems of her people, writing as if it were her last chance to give them back their dignity. It is about resistance and survival, disappearing traditional ways of life and challenging new realities. Her narrative is fuelled by elements of oral storytelling and focuses on the greater good for the community rather than her own personal wellbeing. Je suis une maudite Sauvagesse is the first book to be published by an Indigenous woman in Quebec.
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- Faites votre vin vous-même
- This book lists a number of techniques on how to make one’s own wine at home, either from concentrate or fresh grapes, as well as home-made craft beer. [Reprinted Leméac, Poche Québec, 1987; Bibliothèque québécoise, 1994], The book was publish by Leméac as part of the series: (Coll. “Recettes typiques”).
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- Histoire des Indiens du Haut et du Bas Canada, Tome 1 : Mœurs et coutumes des Algonkins et des Iroquois
- A History of Upper and Lower Canada, this first volume lists the customs and practices of the Algonquin and Iroquois peoples., Published by Leméac as part of the series: Coll. “Ni-t’chawama/Mon ami mon frère”),
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- Histoire des Indiens du Haut et du Bas Canada, Tome 2 : Deux siècles de « civilisation blanche » : 1497-1685
- This second volume of A History of Upper and Lower Canada looks at “two centuries of colonization” from 1497 to 1685., Published by Leméac as part of the series: Coll. “Ni-t’chawama/Mon ami mon frère”
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- Histoire des Indiens du Haut et du Bas Canada, Tome 3 : De l’Épopée à l’Intégration : 1685 à nos jours
- The third and final volume of A History of Upper and Lower Canada focuses on the period from 1685 to the present day (at time of publication, 1974), which the author describes as “from saga to integration.”, Published by Leméac as part of the series: Coll. “Ni-t’chawama/Mon ami mon frère”
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- Ikwé la femme algonquienne
- Ikwé, meaning woman, is Algonquian, though she could be Innu, Naskapi, Malécite, Abénaki, Odawa, Mikmaq, Atikamekw, Cree, Ojibway or Algonquin. This collection of 8 short stories tells of Ikwé finding herself, that she is important, she can give life. The ability to give life teaches her that a child is not something one owns; that one cannot prevent someone from living their life, like some men do. She discovers that she can be rebellious while remaining true to tradition, and that the Indian Act has nothing to do with traditional practices and a person’s lifestyle; and that even amending it does not mean all the injustices towards all Ikwés get repaired., This book is classified under the Non-Fiction category, although it exists as a story in order to share or teach ways of being in the world.
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- Il n’y a plus d’Indiens
- As the title suggests, this play is about a time when “there will be no more Indians.” Set in Northern Quebec, traditional chief Fred Pezindawath is opposing a mining company’s attempt to exploit their land. Most of the other community members are won over by the prospect of employment, even the chief’s own son. Fred, along with his friend Marie-Rose Canot, attempts to block the trucks from entering the community. He is arrested and jailed. Alone and defeated, he commits suicide.
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- Je suis ce que je dis que je suis.
- This essay addresses what has come to be known in the eld of Indigenous literary criticism as questions of hybridity and nationhood. In response to N. Scott Momaday’s 1970 essay “Man Made of Words,” in which he argues that “we are what we imagine,” Assiniwi asserts his right to nationhood based on sense of cultural belonging. Written in 1993, just three years after the Oka Crisis, which served to unite Indigenous peoples from across the continent, the essay takes the “pan-Native movement” one step fur- ther, and promotes tribal af liation as the key to Indigenous survival. In response to debates over “blood quantum” in the United States, Assiniwi asserts that action and experience rather than blood should determine nationhood. In spite of the French in his background, he is, as he declares, 100% Algonquin/Cree, and this is what defines him, and the literature that he produces (Ruffo & MacFarlane 77)., [Reprinted in French and translated in English as “I Am What I Say I Am.” In Introduction To Indigenous Literary Criticism In Canada (Armand Garnet Ruffo and Heather MacFarlane, eds.) Broadview Press, 2015, pp. 78-81, 82-85], [Reprinted in French and translated in English as “I Am What I Say I Am.” In Introduction To Indigenous Literary Criticism In Canada (Armand Garnet Ruffo and Heather MacFarlane, eds.) Broadview Press, 2015, pp. 78-81, 82-85]
